My HB/DSS tenants are OK: counter view to others'

[webster]

i am a landlord who has rented a newly bought house to a family of 8 (2 parents & 6 children) on benefits.
They had excellent references & due to the council system here they had to have their housing benefit paid direct to them. They have lived in my property for over 12 months now & i have never had any problems from them whatsoever. The house has been well looked after & i have had no problems getting the rent & no complaints from neighbours. My tenants are currently looking to move away from blackpool but are finding it virtually impossible due to claiming benefits. In my experience i actually prefer to have tenants who are in receipt of benefits. Are there any other landlords out there that would agree with me or have maybe changed their view on DSS tenants?


ps.
I would like to help them, so if anybody can help i will gladly pass on any details.

Hope this is posted in the right place...

[johnboy]

DSS (SORRY HOUSING BENIFIT) Tenants are as good as money in the bank but only if you get the right ones. I`ve found that single mums with young babies/kids are normally a good bet.

[Paul_f]

The "DSS" doesn't exist and hasn't done so for many years. You should try and stop using the term!

[arlow11]

hi webster nice first post ,but think you should have started i am a dss tenant and i would like to move from blackpool ;)

[webster]

OK DWP not DSS, years?.. DHSS yes, not DSS.
Also why would someone question me saying im a landlord, cant landlords help tenants these days.

[Chelsey]

its so frustrating. it seems everywhere i look wont accept housing benefit. im a young single mum with a 14 month old son and it seems that there is nowhere nice that will take me on :(

[welshgold]

its so frustrating. it seems everywhere i look wont accept housing benefit. im a young single mum with a 14 month old son and it seems that there is nowhere nice that will take me on :(

often its not you or others in your situation that a landlord would object too, the main problem i have found with HB is the totally inefficent, inflexible and contradictory way the local housing Benefit office deal with the situation. I could give many examples, but will just give the most recent, a tenant who has been in work and paying rent, taken ill, now despite all efforts by his care worker and myself , 8 weeks later still no firm decision on benefit, office will tell us nothing (data protection) just might be in review,and to go and see tenant,ask for them to pay full rent untill HB has time to review(impossible due to situation)three seperate letters received today, one saying rent will be paid at one rate, 2nd letter saying it will be paid at different rate, one saying it wont be paid?

[justaboutsane]

Ooh they like doing that to you! .. If the council will not talk to you the tenant has not ticked the box to say you can. Get the tenant to write to the council and advise them that they can talk to you. I do it with all my tenants.

I have had to call two HB depts today regarding tenants. One of whom has lied about a claim being in progress... section 21 being issued tomorrow :rolleyes: the second I was checking the amounts she has been awarded since she moved in due to a query by the job centre.. in 8 months this tenant has had 5 diferent amounts paid, the poor woman is soo confused and worried as she owes us around £200 due to the ups and downs of her benefit.. I have a tenantwho owes £600 as the council awarded benefit then revoked it and his has been up and down for about 2 years now. He pays what he can and looks after the property.. he is about to redecorate through out at his own cost.

The majority of my tenants are HB and the majority are good people. Yes some do not pay top ups, BUT they keep the property in good condition and even take care of small maintenance issues themselves.

Its the ppl who trash the place and refuse to pay that annoy me! .. We had one guy leave claiming all sorts once his 6 months ended.. most of it was brought on by himself so small claims court here we come!

[welshgold]

Ooh they like doing that to you! .. If the council will not talk to you the tenant has not ticked the box to say you can. Get the tenant to write to the council and advise them that they can talk to you. I do it with all my tenants.


I was interested in your comment, but different areas must have different policies. as unfortunatly here the HB office will still not discuss anything with me always quoting data protection.

[justaboutsane]

Its a standard requirement.. not regional as we have seen it accross the country. They like hiding behind the data protection act but if the tenant gives expresss written permission then they are supposed to disclose it! .. Ask to speak to a manager if your tenant has allowed discussion.. if you still get no where put it in writing then escalate it to the ombudsman!

[welshgold]

Its a standard requirement.. not regional as we have seen it accross the country. They like hiding behind the data protection act but if the tenant gives expresss written permission then they are supposed to disclose it! .. Ask to speak to a manager if your tenant has allowed discussion.. if you still get no where put it in writing then escalate it to the ombudsman!

thank you for this information, very useful

[gordon]

Hi i was just reading your notes and i was on holiday beginning july and want move too b/pool do you have or know anyone that has lets available for me and my 12yr old son so looking for 2beedrooms thanks hope here back from you or someone with lets and yes i get dwp (dss)

[J4L]

I was interested in your comment, but different areas must have different policies. as unfortunatly here the HB office will still not discuss anything with me always quoting data protection.

Very simple solution.

Get tenant to write a letter to Housing Benefit giving authority for you to speak with them regarding their claim.
Fax it or send it to them.

They have to speak to you then.

[jeffrey]

Er, J4L, Welshgold was posting almost two years ago!

[chillimog]

often its not you or others in your situation that a landlord would object too, the main problem i have found with HB is the totally inefficent, inflexible and contradictory way the local housing Benefit office deal with the situation. I could give many examples, but will just give the most recent, a tenant who has been in work and paying rent, taken ill, now despite all efforts by his care worker and myself , 8 weeks later still no firm decision on benefit, office will tell us nothing (data protection) just might be in review,and to go and see tenant,ask for them to pay full rent untill HB has time to review(impossible due to situation)three seperate letters received today, one saying rent will be paid at one rate, 2nd letter saying it will be paid at different rate, one saying it wont be paid?

We're looking for a 1 bed property in brighton/hove, lha, and use the fast track system, which means lha is processed in 4 weeks as opposed to 8. That's what we did with our current place and will do the same with the next place, so as not to cause any problems for the landlord!

[Snorkerz]

Chillimog - I have posted some (hopefully) useful links elsewhere for you.

However, can I tactfully draw something to your attention - that the contract you sign and agree with your landlord will almost certainly require rent to be paid monthly in advance. When and how you get the money does not affect that.

I personally will not accept tenants on my local councils rent bond scheme because the council seem to think - and convince the tenants - that their brilliant payment methods over-rule anything in the contract. In law they don't. Engendering this blatant disregard for contract/agreements helps no-one, not even the tenant who can quickly and painfully be brought back to earth with a bump.

[mamt35]

I didnt even know that there were landlords that wait for housing benefit. Ive had a couple of private rented properties, with one of them the housing benefit people lost our paperwork and had to start all over again. 9 weeks it took, and at that time it was a majority of our rent, but we paid it, and claimed a crisis loan to pay for our food etc as it left us with nothing. But thats not the landlords problem is it, i think most LHA tenants do realise this and pay the rent themselves and find another way to compensate for day to day living when those circumstances arise. like crisis loans, budgetting loans etc, then you can pay them back with the LHA backpay.